Collecting, organizing and preparing tax documentation is overwhelming. I think it is because the information you need comes to you in a trickle through the mail, your email inbox and your own receipts - little by little - every day for weeks like Chinese water torture.

So I have come up with a few ways to alleviate my anxiety and take the torture out of tax preparation.

Have a file, box or basket to put ALL incoming tax information.

Make a master list AFTER you file your taxes this year of the documents you needed to find. Above is a picture of my list.

Set aside a 3-4 hour chunk of time to organize and prepare your taxes in one sitting. I actually look forward to this day. :)

2. Purging all my files & creating a color coded filing system.

After I file our taxes in early February I purge our filing cabinet. The first time I really did this it took days and I was able to get rid of 80% of what I had.

So I thought and thought and came up with this simpler, yet still cool, system. I already had colored hanging files {which I LOVE!!} and I assigned each category in my filing cabinet a color.

Then I purged each file as I put the contents in the new colored file.

3. Systematizing my home based business income & expenses for 2016.

Tax time has been a breeze the past few years because I have kept up with my business taxes each month.

Having been in business for myself for over 20 years, I know how hard it is to keep everything organized. This year I disciplined myself to do my finances in my business all by myself DAILY!

Each month I would reconcile and do my tax prep on the 1st of the month. I actually started to look forward to it because I have created a checklist and form to fill out each month so I didn't miss any expenses.

Each month I knew how much I actually made. I was able to continually refine my process and reduce my expenses.

This year I had my graphic designer make my pages in to adorable printables and they are available in my ETSY shop both as a digital download or printed with divider tabs in a DUO Binder.

My goal as a professional organizer is to help people get rid of the stuff they don't want so they can breathe and enjoy the stuff they choose to keep.

Honestly, the quickest and easiest way to do this has been to donate everything that can be donated at Goodwill and trash the rest.

However, as I have matured as an organizer and grown my Cincinnati team, I have started to see how the items you may no longer want or need will fit a need somewhere else in the community. As our team had moved in to organizing and cleaning out family homes for sale it has become more apparent that we should and could be sharing these treasures for good.

So, this fall our team set to work and researched who really wanted and needed the stuff our clients no longer used. I am so sad I had not taken the time to do this earlier. :( The items you and I no longer like or need -really do fit a need someone else in the community has.

This list is specific for Cincinnati, but it will get you thinking outside of the box no matter where you live. This list will continue to be updated and refined. Feel free to leave a comment or contact me with more current information and additional donation locations I have not found.

Congratulations!! You made the decision to GET organized. There is just one problem... where do you start? In today's podcast you will learn all about HOW to start, WHERE to start and be encouraged to just START!